The Week's Top Twenty in Social Media

The social media sphere is an increasingly noisy place, especially for brands. But hiding somewhere in the static, some companies are sending strong signals that reaches their customers in innovative ways. The Dachis Group has recently begun a real-time ranking of which companies have the most effective social strategies with their Social Business Index. Every week we're taking a tally of who's getting heard, what they're saying, and why it matters.

After a long run at No. 1, News Corp. lost its top spot to National Amusements this week, while Facebook continued its comeback, climbing two spots to No. 8. Otherwise, however, it looks like media companies are struggling to fend off beverage companies, the other major powers in the Social Business Index. Vivendi climbed to an impressive new high of No. 11, while Nike continued its bull run, moving up 8 spots to No. 13. Slipping in the top 20 are The New York Times Company, which dropped four spots to No. 17, while Twitter slid back three spots to No. 15, likely because of the surges from Super Bowl-related advertising campaigns by brand giants like Kraft, Procter & Gamble, and PepsiCo. Here are some of the stories behind the moves.

As the biggest French media conglomerate you may have never heard of, Vivendi is exploding thanks to the Facebook presence they've built around popular video games like Call of Duty and Guitar Hero. The company floated up 3 spots to settle in at No. 11, on the heels of an Call of Duty-related tribute to the "Real Life Zombie" universe. Fans loved the live-action short, and the post garnered over 13,000 Likes. Similarly, a new game on the Guitar Hero's Facebook page is driving people to engage with more unique wall posts. "Rather than writing posts solely about the game, Guitar Hero posts about famous Guitar Hero’s birthdays (including Marilyn Manson and David Bowie) or about an upcoming 'rock-a-thon' for the American Heart Association," Allison Squires of the Dachis Group explained. "Providing an inclusive experience for a passionate fan base helped both of these social presences make upward progress this week for Vivendi."

The last time Burberry caught our attention, it was tearing up the tired conventions of Fall Fashion Week coverage by leaning hard on social media to help fans feel like they were backstage at the very fancy runway events. This season, they've improved upon that strategy, climbing 20 spots in the last two weeks to No. 64. For Burberry's Prorsum Menswear Autumn/Winter Show in Milan last week, the brand stoked their Facebook and Twitter followings for realtime reactions during the show. The show streamed live on Facebook, and Twitpic provided visual updates on the outfits. "This call-to-action bridged the gap between the social audience and the real-world event, and resulted in a ton of excitement online," Dachis analyst Lauren Picarello told The Atlantic Wire. "Burberry knows how important these moments are to their fan base and also knows how to elegantly lure them in." Next stop: Paris and New York for the Spring/Summer Accessories Collection.

We were a little surprised to see the multinational toy and game company Hasbro shoot up more than 16 spots over the course of the past week. Hasbro is now at No. 39 thanks, in part, to its flagship title Monopoly. Turns out, Monopoly just released a movie, "Under the Boardwalk: The Monopoly Story” about its rich history," Picarello told us. "Facebook has been a huge source of chatter about the new flick. The pleasant nostalgia that makes Monopoly's movie appealing is actually reflected in all the brand's Facebook posts over the past week." The brand has also undoubtedly been benefiting from the rise in mobile gaming and meme-y nostalgia. It's worth noting that in addition to Monopoly Hasbro owns Transformers, G.I. Joe, Nerf and My Little Pony, and the buzz on the business blogs these days is that the company might be undervalued as these brands start making a comeback. Have you heard of the Brony craze? Social media gold for Hasbro, that meme is.

Methodology: A project of the Dachis Group, a social business professional services group, the Social Business Index analyzes the conversations on social platforms such as Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, and othrs. The index, which currently covers approximately 25,0000 companies and 27,000 brands, detects behaviors and activities exhibited by these companies, analyzes their execution and effectiveness at driving outcomes such as brand awareness, brand love, mind share, and advocacy. The Atlantic Wire takes a snapshot of the rankings at the close of business on Thursdays.